I’m moving this weekend, back to the Ranch, and it’s had a rocky start. I’ve discovered quite a few things that need repair including my range top and oven. I gave up last night after the walk through and my securityfest with doors and windows, to embark today on pulling the range unit out from the wall and seeing if it’s actually plugged in.

It’s not a great place, but it has the basics I need at the price I want to pay. Big rooms, a decent garage and back yard for a duplex, new carpet and a real fireplace, not an insert. To avoid having to rush, I took Monday off hoping to get a jump on things last night, but then learned I couldn’t lock my damn garage door. I have to call it in since the PM says all repairs must be performed by their contractors, but it might take until Monday to address this, and that is flatly unacceptable.

I’ve got what I need to secure it, so today will be spent locking down and moving in appliances, cleaning the place to my standards and spraying the house, lawns and yard with insecticide. Blah Blah Blah, I hate moving.

I was contemplating my intellectual roadblock as to why I know the Rancho Cordova police department has the wrong priorities. I kept crunching the numbers in my mind, and it occurred to me that, roughly 60% of the city’s budget is committed to the RCPD (aka the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department), which is managed by a “part time” police chief through the CADOJ celebrated, FBI workshop inspiring “Shared Command” concept.

60% of the budget, managed by a part time manager. Hmm. Then I looked at the remaining 40% of the budget, and how much management staff was dedicated to this portion of the budget. The city has not only a full time manager, but now an assistant city manager, each with support staff, not to mention each of the department heads and their staff.

I imagine there are more city staff than police officers, yet city staff get ample management resources, and the RCPD gets….Half Time. This fact was magnified for me when I learned of the police budget increase in excess of a million dollars above the initially project $13 million for ’05, which was adjusted down to $12 million and change.

So, we’re at $13m, drop nearly a million, then go up to $15 million? still with a PART TIME POLICE CHIEF WHO MANAGES 60% OF THE CITY’S BUDGET, AND ARGUABLY AS MUCH OF IT’S DISCRETIONARY EXPENSES?

I’ll get the exact numbers from the city documents, post them here, as well add links to the coverage it received in the local papers, but it just smacks me wrong that the city, a world class city, spends so little on managing and controlling a city department who’s budget comprises 60%+ of the city’s general fund, and so greatly impacts the city’s professed number one goal, “Foster a Positive Image of the City of Rancho Cordova”.

Joe Chinn, the new assistant city manager for the City of Rancho Cordova, played a key roll in the cityhood effort. As an economist for Economic Planning and Systems (EPS), he authored the Preliminary Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis released in August 1998, which was the “smoking gun” the Rancho Cordova Incorporation Committee used to show the inequity of services to revenues under county governance. I’ll have to scan the ragtag copy I was given and post it for curiosity.

I met the guy out in their Natomas office back in 1999, while requesting a copy of the cfa to place online. Mr. Chinn cited that the “committee”, as the RCIC was referred to, had already received the pre-cfa, and that he thought it might jeopardize the process with the County CFO should the pre-cfa hit the Internet.

EPS was also bidding for a contract with the county at the same time
(this was, I believe for a LAFCo related project; counties still managed LAFCos then pre-Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000), and this was cited as a “politically bad move” rubbing salt in the CFO’s (Geoff Davey) wound over Rancho Cityhood. Remember his “Response to Rancho Cordova Incorporation Committee Flyer“????(Thanks wayback machine!)

I took it as a blow off, despite the fact the committee had phoned him about it. I hope Mr. Chinn has acquired an appreciation for Open Government.

Rancho Cordova hires assistant city manager – sacbee.com
Elk Grove’s finance director, Joe Chinn, will fill the position.
By Loretta Kalb — Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:01 am PDT Sunday, September 3, 2006
Story appeared in El dorado folsom rancho cordova section, Page N3

Here are pdfs of the 11/1997, 08/1998 and 09/1998 RCIC newsletters mentioning the pre-cfa.

Now this was a surprise after posting this little excerpt from the minutes of a meeting from last month. I was just blown away at the blatent PR obsession by this council and city staff. The city’s number one goal is to “Foster a Positive Image of Rancho Cordova”. Public Safety is down at number six. I have to wonder how often #6 and other city goals are steamrolled over to achieve the #1 goal, A Positive Image?

Folsom – Rancho Cordova News – Rancho council to go over city goals – sacbee.com
By Cathy Locke – Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, September 17, 2006
Story appeared in El DORADO FOLSOM RANCHO CORDOVA section, Page N2

The Rancho Cordova City Council on Monday will review a status report on 13 citywide goals and objectives, as well as staff action plans. The goals, adopted in March, evolved from a two-day strategic planning session in November 2005. Members of the City Council, Planning Commission and city staff met with community representatives to discuss priorities for city services and activities.

These goals just seem seriously dysfunctional for a new municipal government with state and federal responsibilities to it’s constituants, it’s taxpayers, it’s children and families, whom the leadership has derisively labeled 95% as “Riverside Rancho” residents, not just “Rancho Cordovans” or citizens, but “those people” who “create image problems for the city”.

Here’s an encore performance of world class leadership, unplugged
(have a bag or towel handy for your digestive discharge):

Would you want these goals for your city or community? In the order they’re prioritized? What do you think of each of these goals? Please tell me, I’d really love to hear from any and all.

SacPD Blog

Hey, I thought this was pretty cool. The Sacramento Police Department evidently has started a blog. I didn’t read about it anywhere, just stumbled upon it while checking crime stats on the downtown area around Governor’s Square and the Towers condos. It just slapped me in the face, SacPD has GIS maping, online crime reporting, their database of crimes from 1997-present, the list goes on….basically a full service Police Department, but doesn’t claim to be a world class police department.

The RCPD on the other hand does, and the extent of their online presence are a few links to CA DOJ literature and their Patch Trading Policy. Hell when the city of Rancho Cordova opposed the liquor license for a 99 cent store a few years ago,

http://www.abcappealsbd.ca.gov/decisions/pdf/AB_8300/8353.pdf

they couldn’t even pull up crime stats for the area, they “had to get back” to the ABC, and the RCPD (aka Sac County Sheriff’s Dept.) has been in charge of that jurisdiction since……1850? I guess the Budge edict of “Only Positive Information” clashed with their opposition to the ABC’s decision.

Wow, world class, truly world class.

Sacramento Star Trek Convention- WilliamShatner.com

I knew about this appearance at a Trek Convention for about a month. I’ve never been to a Trek convention, and thought this might be a good one to goto, with both Kirk and Spock in attendance today, with the 40th aniversary in play across the world this weekend.

I almost got tickets for today, but decided not to. It would have been a Trek birthday weekend, and well, I just didn’t want to ring in a new year with the Khan scream and green women 2LiveCrew style running through my imagination.

I’m buying the Star Trek/TOS Season 1 from Unbox, Amazon’s new video download service, whose product drm DOES NOT ALLOW burning to DVD for TV viewing, like ITunes. Cinema Now’s product DRM allows for DVD burning using their software, but they don’t have many titles, especially the older tv shows I’d like to buy. It’s really a lot of bullshit not to be able to burn to dvd.

You can connect your pc to a TV, but what a pain in the arse for most. I have a PC running Windows Media Center Edition 2005, and have thought about getting one of those wireless Media Center Extenders HP and Linksys puts out, but each mfg looks like they are walking away from those v1 extender devices, and most importantly, Microsoft is. They’re no longer in production, and although I can still buy one, I’d hate to drop $250 on an abandoned platform which won’t be supported by Vista.

On the other hand, I could set it up using an XBox 360, which might be an option I’d jump into, despite not being a gamer. We’ll see. Maybe an XBOX 360 is in my future for Xmas ’06?:)